There are a couple of other issues explored too, but we don\u2019t have the room here to do them justice.<\/p>\n

The cross-country analysis<\/h2>\n

While there is a fair bit of detail in the paper on x-country comparisons, it might be useful to focus on the enablers and barriers to implementing national qualification frameworks.<\/p>\n

These include: 1. The political, that is policy\/political backing, or lack thereof; 2. The cultural, that is \u201ca receptive tradition of outcomes, established or not;\u201d 3. The structural, that is the links, strong or weak, between education and training systems and labour markets; 4. The technical, that is \u201cthe presence or absence of supporting methodologies, manuals, guides, and other tools;\u201d 5. The financial, including the money and expertise, and whether there is sufficient or, alternatively, resources are strained; and finally: 6. The practical, that is the extent of dissemination to and awareness by users, or not.<\/p>\n

In terms of barriers, initial engagement with the frameworks can be an issue and \u201cstakeholders may also be deterred by the absence of funding to facilitate their participation, or if they are confronted by over-complex processes to engage them,\u201d, including technical challenges. Thus a \u2018biggie issue\u2019 is lack of stakeholder engagement.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, enablers include \u201csupportive policy and socio-economic environments are critical in enabling NQFs [National Qualification Frameworks] to take root and flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a useful section of this paper to read.<\/p>\n

Micro credentials<\/h2>\n

Here too there are a range of opportunities and barriers. Opportunities include making learning more flexible, adaptable and relevant; providing better lifelong and life wide learning opportunities and finally, responding better to the needs of the labour market and individuals.<\/p>\n

The challenges include an oversupply of micro credentials that can cause devaluation and<\/p>\n

confuse stakeholders. Second, ensuring micro credentials are part of the formal system and they therefore need to adhere to the same standards. And finally, managing the possible shift in preference for short duration learning over full qualifications.<\/p>\n

Validating non-formal and informal learning<\/h2>\n

This chapter \u201clooks at validation from four different perspectives: individual, skills strategies, certification, and methodology.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to this chapter, \u201cthese four perspectives, when combined, provide a broad approach [and] offer rich insights into validation developments and the factors influencing success and failure in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each perspective allows [readers] \u201cto focus on specific aspects that are relevant for validation, while the combination of the four provides new insights into the elements that define validation.\u201d<\/p>\n